Tie wire tools for orthodontists and for general industrial use



3,2l 1,188 TIE WIRE TOOLS FOR oRTHoDoNTIsTs AND FOR GENERAL INDUSTRIALUSE M. WALLSHEIN Filed June 8, 1962 Oct. l2, 1965 Ju.' I

INVENTOR, Mau/1N WALLSHEIN,

ATTORNEY..

Om C Mm N NN United States Patent O g 3,211,188 TIE WIRE TOOLS FORORTHODONTISTS AND FOR GENERAL INDUSTRIAL USE Melvin Wallshein, 8645 BayParkway, Brooklyn, N.Y. Filed June 8, 1962, Ser. No. 201,081 2 Claims.(Cl. 140-120) The present invention relates to a tool to twistcontacting regions of a tie wire so that the loop formed thereby isreduced in size to tightly grip one or more objects positioned throughsuch loop. l

To illustrate an adaptation of Vthis invention, I have chosen to show itembodied in an instrument suitable for use by Orthodontists to aid themin applying a tie wire, as for instance where a tie wire is to hold anarch wire to a bracket on a tooth in a mouth.

Heretofore, the twisting of a tie wire was done with a plier. The amount'of twist conveniently capable with a plier in each manipulationthereof, is a half turn. To make at least, say two full twist turns inthe tie wire, required that the hand make four complete oscillationswith appropriate successivegripping and releasing actions on the plier.Many a time the plier would slip and hence would require replacement inproper association with the work, in order to continue. Then again, thepitch of the twist accomplished in the wire would vary, depending on thedistance from the plier jaw tips to the work elements positioned throughthe loop whose size is to be reduced by plier manipulation.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to providea noveland improved tool for the purpose mentioned, which with one manipulationwill make a few complete twist turns in the tie wire, right up againstthe elements to be tied, and thus immediately have a secure associationof the tie wire with the elements encOmpassed thereby.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and improvedtie-Wire twisting tool of the character described, for use in industrygenerally and especially adaptable as shown in an orthodontistsinstrument, which avoids the objectionable features encountered byordinary plier manipulation, and which has the stated advantageousattributes, for it twists the wire tightly automatically, and furtherwhich is reasonably cheap to manufacture and efficient in carrying outthe functions for which it is designed.

Still `another object thereof is to provide a novel and improvedtie-wire twisting tool which automatically tightens the loop fortwisting, and thereafter to twist the loop, is, manipulated with partialturning movements of the hand. Such a tool is very cheap to make and maybe suicient in various instances.

' Other objects and advantages will become apparent as this disclosureproceeds.

For the practice of this invention, one form it may assume, is to have arotor rod retractable into a hollow handle, but spring-biased toextended position with provision that said rotor rod shall turnautomatically when it travels in a direction out of said handle, but notto turn when it travels into the handle. I also have at the free end ofsaid rotor member, a tubular part into which a tip is slidably fittedand spring-biased to extended position. The spring biasing said tip isstronger than the spring biasing the rotor member to extended position,so that the tip shall assume extended position before the rotor turns,after the tool is collapsed and allowed to expand. The rim of said tipis serrated and the rotor member is provided with an anchor pin toengage the ends of the tie wire.

I will now give a more detailed description of preferred embodiments ofthis invention and will explain their modes of operation and use, forwhich I will resort ice to the accompanying drawing forming part of thisspecification, in which drawing, similar characters of referenceindicate corresponding parts in all the views. FIG. l is a centrallongitudinal sectional view of a tool embodying teachings of thisinvention, shown in fully extended condition.

, FIG. 2 is an end view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal view of the tool brought to fullycollapsed condition with its tip bearing against a bracket carried on atooth in a patients mouth. This bracket supports the arch wire which isto be tied to said bracket with a tie wire. The wire piece which is toserve as the tie, is shown mounted to hold the arch wire to the bracket,with the ends of such wire piece extending, ready to be tied to ananchor pin to form a loop lin the tie wire. It is to be noted that thestrands of the tie wire piece are engaged by the tools serrated tip.

FIG. 4 is a view like FIG. 3, showing the next step of operation. Herethe tie wire ends are tied to form a loop engaged by the anchor pin andthe tool has been allowed to extend a bit so such loop is pulled taut.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal view of the tool at the last stepof the operation where it has been allowed to fully extend. During suchextension, the tie wire was tightly twisted several times to securelyhold the arch wire to the bracket. It may be noted that now, after thetool is removed, the excess of the wire piece of which the tie was made,is to be trimmed olf.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view, showing to a larger scale in perspective,the tool parts which constitute a clutch.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal view of a modilied construction toattain tautness of the loop mentioned in the description of FIG. 4,before the tie wire is twisted by the tool as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary longitudinal view of a tool of modifiedconstruction, shown in extended condition.

FIG. 9 is an end view of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a face view of one of the clutch parts of FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 shows the tool of FIG. 8, collapsed.

FIG. l2 is like FIG. 8, slightly modified.

In the drawing, the numeral 15 designates generally one tool concernedwith herein, comprised of a hollow handle 16 in which is slidably,rotatably fitted a piston element 17; said element being at one end of arod of substantially rectangular cross-section, which has been twistedabout its longitudinal axis to offer a spiral track 18. I shall callthis twisted rod, the rotor rod and designate it generally by thenumeral 19. This rotor rod is slidably :fitted through the central hole20 of a face ratchet wheel indicated generally as 21 which is rotatablewithin the handle 16 between a face ratchet 22 and a washer 23; therebeing a predetermined space between said face ratchet 22 and washer 23which are xed in said handle, for the face ratchet 21 to slide up andback in, limited only by the presence of a compression spring element 24which biases said face ratchets 21 and 22 into engagement. The teeth ofsaid face ratchets are in such direction that same shall engage when therotor rod 19 moves outwardly of the handle 16, but while said rotor rodmoves into said handle, theteeth of the face ratchet 21 will ride overthe teeth of the fixed ratchet 22. Thus, a clutch mechanism is providedto control said rotor rod. The rotor rod is free to turn through theholes 22', 23.

At the free end of the rotor rod 19, there is a tubular extensiondenoted generally by the numeral 25, in which there is telescopicallyfitted a tip element indicated generally as 26 having a toothedformation 26' around its free rim edge. This tip 26, in order to turnwith the rotor rod 19, has a pin 27 extending therefrom, slidably ttedin the longitudinal slot 28 in the tubular element 25.

3 The numeral 29 indicates a headed pin extending laterally of saidtubular element 25.

The handle member 16 and the rotor rod 19 may be deemed a telescopicstructure biased to extended condition by the compression coil spring 30which is housed in said handle, to bear against the piston element 17and the end plug 31 respectively. The telescopic casing formed by theassociated tip and socket elements 26, 25, houses a relatively strongerspring 32, biasing such casing to extended condition.

As mentioned, FIG. l shows the tool 15 in fully extended condition,which is its state at rest. The clutch members 21, 22 are held inengagement by action of the spring 24. If the rotor rod 19 is heldstationary and pushed into the handle member 16, the ratchet wheel 21will ride on the fixed ratchet mem-ber 22, that is, the ratchet wheel 21will turn, and thus the rotor rod will have only linear movement. Ofcourse, the spring 30 will become stressed While the rotor rod movesinto the handle. Now on holding the tool in hand by the handle 16, andpermitting the tool to expand, the engagement of the face ratchets willbe firm and the face ratchet 21 will be held against rotation, while theaction of the spring 30 will cause the rotor rod t move outwardly of thehandle. The rotor rod 19 will rotate while it is imoving through thehole 20 during the outward movement of such rotor rod.

To use the tool 15 to make a tie wire 33 to tightly hold an arch wire 34in its supporting bracket 35 which is on a band 36 about a tooth 37 in amouth, the tie wire is bent in half and set in front of the arch wireand behind the flanges 38, 38 of the bracket 35 as shown in FIG. 3,Where the tooth illustrated is an upper buccal tooth of an open-mouthedpatient who is reclining in a dentists chair.

Now, holding the extended tool 15 by the handle 16, it is placed tip endinto the mouth so that the tip 26 shall bear against the underside ofthe bracket 35, and the strands of the tie wire are set to be engagedbetween diametrically opposite teeth 26. Now, push the handle 16 tofully collapse the tool as in FIG. 3, and while holding it so, attachthe ends of the tie wire about the anchor pin 29 as at 38 to form anearly taut loop 33 as in FIG. 4. Upon allowing the tool to slightlyexpand, the tip 26 will quickly move outward of the tubular member 25,thereby making the loop 33' really taut, While the rotor rod 19 hardlymoves any in rotation. Now allowing the tool to fully extend, the rotorrod 19 will rotate a few times during its movement out of the handle 16,and thereby cause the tight twists in the tie wire against the bracket35 as shown at 39 in FIG. 5, which completes the intended assembly insecured lformat. The tool is now removed from the mouth and the excessof the tie Wire trimmed off by cutting it at points A and B.

To further insure that the rotor rod 19 shall have no turning movementat its start of withdrawal from the handle, to permit the extension ofthe tip 26 to tighten the loop 33 before the rotor rod 19 commences toturn, the start region C of said rotor rod is made fiat, so such fiatfirst passes through the hole 20. It is evident that while said flatcontinues in said hole upon withdrawal of the rotor rod 19, there willoccur no rotary movement of said rotor rod for such interval. Here,difference in spring strengths is not important, but desirable.

If desired, the parts 25 and 26 may be integral instead of telescopic,and so, the spring 32 is omitted. This will require that the loop bemade tight when mounted on pin 429 in FIG. 4.

The scheme of construction of the modified tool structure indicatedgenerally by the numeral 15', is like that of the tool 15, except thatthe rotor member 40 is a tube with a peripheral spiral groove 41 forengagement of the tooth 42 of the loose clutch part which is the faceratchet wheel 42, and further, there may be a rod 44 extending lixedfrom the serrated tip element 43, which when the tool 15 is collapsed,will protrude out of the end plug 45 as shown in FIG. ll. Also, theremay be the element 46, which not only serves in place of the anchor pin26, but also upon collapse of said tool 15', is used as a fingerpiece tobe stayed by a finger of the dentist, while the exposed end of the rod44 is pushed inward of the handle 16', to make the loop 33 taut. Thenumeral 17 indicates a collar at the inner end of the rotor rod, actingpiston-like and is rotatable in the tubular handle 16 against the actionof the spring 30 which biases the components 40 and 16 to extend. In allother respects, the tools 15 and 15 are similar as to structure and modeof operation. The tool 15' when made small enough, will permit the rody44 to be pushed by the palm of the hand while the finger-piece 46 isheld back by the tip of the index linger.

In the slightly modified tool indicated generally by the numeral 15",each of the sections 47, `48, 49 is a tube of uniform diameterrespectively, one within the other. This avoids the built-upconstruction necessary at tip end in tool 15.

If it is desired to have a turn-by-hand tool to twist a tie wire but toretain the feature to automatically tighten the loop 33', such toolwould comprise merely the assembly of the resiliently associated members43 and 40 of 15 for example, and in such instance, the tube 40 needs nospiral track, and of course, the part 16 and its appurtenances areomitted; the handle of such tool as now curtailed, then being the tube40. Also, if desired, the rod 44 may be included as well as thefinger-piece 46 for such modified construction.

Although I have shown embodiments of this invention suitable for theorthodontist who deals with tie Wires which are relatively thin, thetools herein taught may be made of heavier construction to suit variousapplications for use in industry generally, to work on heavier tiewires.

This invention is capable of numerous forms and various applicationswithout departing from the essential features herein disclosed. It istherefore intended and desired that the showing herein shall be deemedmerely illustrative and not restrictive and that the patent shall coverall patentable novelty herein set forth; reference being had to thefollowing claims rather than to the specic description herein toindicate the scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a tool for twisting together opposite strands of a wire loop whichencircles an object and need be made smaller in order to tightly engagesuch object, first and second members associated only in telescopicsliding relation, spring means biasing said members to extendedcondition, means on the first member to mount said loop at a pointspaced from and opposite to said object and means on the second memberto engage the opposite strands of said loop when the tool is incompressed condition while the free end of the second member is heldagainst said object, whereby on restoring the tool to normal extendedcondition, said loop is automatically made taut.

2. A tool as defined in claim 1, wherein the means on the second memberto engage the Strands, is provided by notches in the free end of theSecond member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,209,434 12/ 16Hayden ..1 140-119 1,472,763 10/23 Pomeroy 140-119 2,880,811 4/ 59Kuester 192-26 FOREIGN PATENTS 755,729 8/ 5 6 Great Britain.

CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM F. PURDY, Examiner.

1. IN A TOOL FOR TWISTING TOGETHER OPPOSITE STRANDS OF A WIRE LOOP WHICHENCIRCLES AN OBJECT AND NEED BE MADE SMALLER IN ORDER TO TIGHTLY ENGAGESUCH OBJECT FIRST AND SECOND MEMBERS ASSOCIATED ONLY IN TELECOPICSLIDING RELATION, SPRING MEANS BIASING SAID MEMBERS TO EXTENDEDCONDITION, MEANS ON THE FIRST MEMBER TO MOUNT SAID LOOP AT A POINTSPACED FROM AND OPPOSITE TO SAID OBJECT AND MEANS ON THE SECOND MEMBERTO ENGAGE THE OPPOSITE STRANDS OF SAID LOOP WHEN THE TOOL IS INCOMPRESSED CONDITION WHILE THE FREE END OF THE SECOND MEMBER IS HELDAGAINST SAID OBJECT, WHEREBY ON RESTORING THE TOOL TO NORMAL EXTENDEDCONDITION, SAID LOOP IS AUTOMATICALLY MADE TAUT.